diff --git a/internal/plugin-gallery-smoke.mjs b/internal/plugin-gallery-smoke.mjs
index be14e8747..4a1314ada 100644
--- a/internal/plugin-gallery-smoke.mjs
+++ b/internal/plugin-gallery-smoke.mjs
@@ -216,5 +216,32 @@ if (glNoise) {
   console.log('  Paint is verified separately by verify:map-paint (SwiftShader). Run with')
   console.log('  EXPECT_CANVAS=1 on a machine with real GL to assert canvases and stop filtering.')
 }
+// ★ SAY WHAT THE NOISE IS, NOT JUST HOW MUCH. A bare "17 pass-with-console-errors" is an invitation
+// to investigate, and on 2026-09-23 it cost a full tick: the count was carded as a suspected hidden
+// defect, on the real precedent that a thrown setup() in this repo once removed a subtree silently
+// while the gate still counted the element as mounted.
+//
+// IT WAS NOISE, AND THE PROOF IS THE PARTITION. Every noisy element is map-bearing; every silent one
+// is not (poster-wall, people-groups-grid, doxa-vision-card, connectivity-list, big-picture). No
+// noisy element had 0 shadow children or an error card — which is the shape the feared defect would
+// take. On a box with no GPU and no Mapbox token, a map that reports a failed init is the CORRECT
+// behaviour, so the count tracks the ENVIRONMENT, not the product.
+//
+// ★ AND ONE MESSAGE CLASS WAS AN ARTIFACT OF THIS REPORT ITSELF. `console.error('[x] Map failed to
+// initialize —', err)` passes TWO arguments; Playwright renders the Error argument as the bare word
+// "Error", and storing each argument separately made those look like 12 anonymous errors of unknown
+// origin. They were the second half of messages already counted. Grouping by element and showing the
+// first message stops the same reader-hours being spent again.
+if (noisy.length) {
+  const withMap = noisy.filter(r => r.canvas || /map/i.test(r.key)).length
+  console.log(`[plugin-gallery-smoke] ${noisy.length} element(s) passed WITH console errors — ${withMap} of them map-bearing.`)
+  console.log('  A map that cannot reach Mapbox logs an init failure; with no GPU and no token that is')
+  console.log('  EXPECTED here and is not a product defect. What WOULD be one: a noisy element with 0')
+  console.log(`  shadow children or an error card. Count of those right now: ${noisy.filter(r => r.shadowChildren === 0 || r.errorCard).length}.`)
+  for (const r of noisy) {
+    const first = String(r.consoleErrors[0] || '').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').slice(0, 72)
+    console.log(`    ${r.key.padEnd(44)} children=${String(r.shadowChildren).padStart(3)}  ${first}`)
+  }
+}
 if (JSON_OUT) { writeFileSync(JSON_OUT, JSON.stringify({ base: BASE, results }, null, 2)); console.log(`[plugin-gallery-smoke] report → ${JSON_OUT}`) }
 if (failed.length) { console.log('FAILED:'); failed.forEach(f => console.log(`  ✗ ${f.key} — ${f.why}`)); process.exit(1) }